Sleeping man in skirt set on fire

A teenager has been a arrested in the US city of Oakland for allegedly lighting a man on fire as he slept on a bus while wearing a skirt.

On Monday evening Luke "Sasha" Fleischman, an 18-year-old Berkeley high school senior who identifies as "agender" was sleeping on an AC Transit bus as he travelled home from school at around 5pm in the evening.

The sleeping Fleischman was then allegedly set alight by another passenger, a 16-year-old from Oakland High School.

Fleischman and others tried to put out the fire but the 18-year-old had already suffered second and third degree burns to his body.

"This is a horrific crime," said police spokeswoman Joanna Watson.

"Anyone who thinks it's okay to light another human being on fire is not okay."

Fleischman does not associate with either a male or female, instead identifying as "non-binary" gender, or agender, and feels comfortable wearing a skirt, his mother Debbie Fleischman told the Oakland Tribune on Tuesday.